Ubiquitin immunoreactivity of paired helical filaments differs in Alzheimer’s disease and corticobasal degeneration

To establish whether there is a relationship between ubiquitination and ultrastructural appearance of filaments, we compared the ubiquitin immunoreactivity of paired helical filaments (PHFs) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). PHFs in these disorders share a limited similarity since filaments in CBD are wider and twisted at longer intervals than those in AD, and also display less ultrastructural stability. Preparations enriched in SDS-soluble filaments were isolated from AD and CBD brains and subjected to tau and ubiquitin immunogold labeling. Both preparations contained mostly dispersed individual PHFs, which labeled for the amino and carboxyl termini of tau. Immunolabeling of ubiquitin was variable, however, being more intense in AD than CBD samples. SDS-insoluble filaments were prepared from PHFs by boiling in the presence of SDS and 2-mercaptoethanol and collected by sedimentation. In both disorders, the pellets contained highly aggregated and bundled filaments, which were devoid of the amino but not the carboxyl terminal region of tau. Again, ubiquitin labeling was more intense in AD than CBD filaments. The present results suggest that ubiquitination has limited influence on SDS solubility, aggregation and bundling of PHFs; however, it may be one of the factors responsible for the ultrastructural variability and/or stability of filaments. Received: 6 March 1998 / Revised, accepted: 14 May 1998     

High frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus impacts adult neurogenesis in a rat model of Parkinson's disease

APP.V717I and Tau.P301L transgenic mice develop Alzheimer's disease pathology comprising important aspects of human disease including increased levels of amyloid peptides, cognitive and motor impairment, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The combined model, APP.V717I × Tau.P301L bigenic mice (biAT mice) exhibit aggravated amyloid and tau pathology with severe cognitive and behavioral defects. In the present study, we investigated early changes in synaptic function in the CA1 and CA3 regions of acute hippocampal slices of young APP.V717I, Tau.P301L and biAT transgenic animals. We have used planar multi-electrode arrays (MEA) and improved methods for simultaneous multi-site recordings from two hippocampal sub-regions. In the CA1 region, long-term potentiation (LTP) was severely impaired in all transgenic animals when compared with age-matched wild-type controls, while basal synaptic transmission and paired-pulse facilitation were minimally affected. In the CA3 region, LTP was normal in Tau.P301L and APP.V717I but clearly impaired in biAT mice. Surprisingly, frequency facilitation in CA3 was significantly enhanced in Tau.P301L mice, while not affected in APP.V717I mice and depressed in biAT mice. The findings demonstrate important synaptic changes that differ considerably in the hippocampal sub-regions already at young age, well before the typical amyloid or tau pathology is evident.     

Early neuroinflammation is associated with lower amyloid and tau levels in cognitively normal older adults

CNS inflammation is a key factor in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), but its relation to pathological Aβ, tau, and APOE4 is poorly understood, particularly prior to the onset of cognitive symptoms. To better characterize early relationships between inflammation, APOE4, and AD pathology, we assessed correlations between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory markers and brain levels of Aβ and tau in cognitively normal older adults.Each participant received a lumbar puncture to collect and quantify CSF levels of TNFα, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10, a T1-weighted MRI, and PET scanning with [¹⁸F]flortaucipir (FTP; n = 57), which binds to tau tangles and/or [¹⁸F]florbetapir (FBP; n = 58), which binds to Aβ. Parallel voxelwise regressions assessed relationships between each CSF inflammatory marker and FTP and FBP SUVR, as well as APOE4*CSF inflammation interactions.Unexpectedly, we detected significant negative associations between regional Aβ and tau PET uptake and CSF inflammatory markers. For Aβ PET, we detected negative associations with CSF IL-6 and IL-8 in regions known to show early accumulation of Aβ (i.e. lateral and medial frontal lobes). For tau PET, negative relationships were observed with CSF TNFα and IL-8, predominantly in regions known to exhibit early tau accumulation (i.e. medial temporal lobe). In subsequent analyses, significant interactions between APOE4 status and IL-8 on Aβ and tau PET levels were observed in spatially distinct regions from those showing CSF–Aβ/tau relationships.Results from the current cross-sectional study support previous findings that neuroinflammation may be protective against AD pathology at a given stage of the disease, and extend these findings to a cognitively normal aging population. This study provides new insight into a dynamic relationship between neuroinflammation and AD pathology and may have implications for whom and when neuroinflammatory therapies may be appropriate.     

Assessment of ZnT3 and PSD95 protein levels in Lewy body dementias and Alzheimer's disease: association with cognitive impairment

The loss of zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) has been implicated in age-related cognitive decline in mice, and the protein has been associated with plaques. We investigated the levels of ZnT3 and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95), a marker of the postsynaptic terminal, in people with Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD, n = 31), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB, n = 44), Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 16), and controls (n = 24), using semiquantitative western blotting and immunohistochemistry in 3 cortical regions. Standardized cognitive assessments during life and semiquantitative scoring of amyloid β (Aβ), tau, and α-synuclein at postmortem were used to investigate the relationship between ZnT3 and PSD95, cognition and pathology. Associations were observed between ZnT3 and PSD95 levels in prefrontal cortex and cognitive impairment (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively) and between ZnT3 levels in the parietal cortex and cognitive impairment (p = 0.036). Associations were also seen between ZnT3 levels in cingulate cortex and severity of Aβ (p = 0.003) and tau (p = 0.011) pathologies. DLB and PDD were characterized by significant reductions of PSD95 (p < 0.05) and ZnT3 (p < 0.001) in prefrontal cortex compared with controls and AD. PSD95 levels in the parietal cortex were found to be decreased in AD cases compared with controls (p = 0.02) and PDD (p = 0.005). This study has identified Zn²⁺ modulation as a possible novel target for the treatment of cognitive impairment in DLB and PDD and the potential for synaptic proteins to be used as a biomarker for the differentiation of DLB and PDD from AD.     

牛磺酸对大鼠内毒素性肺损伤保护作用的研究

目的:探讨牛磺酸(taurine,Tau)对急性肺损伤(acute lunginjury,ALI)大鼠的保护作用及其可能机制。方法:48只大鼠随机分为3组:生理盐水组腹腔内注射生理盐水;另外2组腹腔内注射等量脂多糖(1ipopolysaccharide,LPS),并随后在第3组腹腔注射Tau。各组动物分别于腹腔注射后6、12、18 h将其处死,检测血清还原型谷胱甘肽(reduced gluathione,GSH)含量、肺组织超氧化物歧化酶(superoxide dismutase,SOD)活性及丙二醛(malonaldehyde,MDA)含量的改变,此外也观察肺组织形态学变化。结果:腹腔注射LPS使血清GSH含量及肺组织SOD活性较生理盐水组明显降低(P<0.01),而MDA含量则显著升高(P<0.01),并且大鼠肺组织出现了明显的炎症性改变;Tau处理组与LPS组比较,GSH含量和SOD活性显著升高(P<0.05),而MDA含量明显下降(P<0.05),同时肺组织的炎症改变也显著减轻。结论:Tau对ALI时的肺脏起明显的保护作用,其机制可能与MT清除过量的自由基有关。     

剪接因子SRp55原核表达质粒的构建和表达

目的:本研究通过扩增剪接因子SR蛋白家族的SRp55基因,构建GST融合蛋白原核表达质粒pGEX-2T/SRp55,并在大肠杆菌中诱导表达并进行纯化。方法:用PCR法扩增SRp55基因,将扩增产物和载体pGEX-2T进行双酶切后回收,连接载体和目的片段,获得重组质粒。将重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)。在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中通过IPTG进行诱导表达,然后用谷胱甘肽-琼脂糖球珠,亲和纯化得到纯的GST-SRp55融合蛋白。结果:SRp55基因以正确的阅读框架插入pGEX-2T。IPTG诱导大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)表达,随诱导时间的增加蛋白表达量增高,4h以后接近最高表达量。通过亲和纯化得到分子量在60kD左右的蛋白,经蛋白印迹分析证实为GST-SRp55融合蛋白。结论:成功地构建了GST融合蛋白原核表达质粒pGEX-2T/SRp55,并获得GST-SRp55融合蛋白,为进一步研究tau蛋白可变剪接机制提供了必要的基础。     

Low molecular weight glycosaminoglycan blockade of beta-amyloid induced neuropathology

Previous studies have shown different roles for proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology. Using a rat model of beta-amyloid induced neuropathology, we tested whether low molecular weight glycosaminoglycans (Certoparin and C6) could be useful as preventative agents and/or as a potential therapeutic treatment for AD. Chronic subcutaneous low molecular weight glycosaminoglycan injections beginning either before or after an intra-amygdaloid beta-amyloid-(25-35) injection blocked abnormal intracellular tau changes and reactive astrocytosis but did not affect beta-amyloid's aggregation state. Also, low molecular weight glycosaminoglycan injections beginning 1 day prior to sacrifice did not block the effects of beta-amyloid nor did injections of a disaccharide, suggesting chronic low molecular weight glycosaminoglycan treatment is needed to block the effects of beta-amyloid. Furthermore, these data indicate that there is a molecular weight range of active low molecular weight glycosaminoglycans in this model; and supports the investigation of low molecular weight glycosaminoglycans as a preventative and/or therapeutic treatment of beta-amyloid induced neuropathology.     

Tau haplotype frequency in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

It has been reported that the H1 haplotype of the tau gene, located on chromosome 17q21, is associated with progressive supranuclear palsy. Recently, it has also been claimed that the H1 haplotype could also be a risk factor for frontotemporal dementia. However, these claims are variable and the involvement of the apolipoprotein E gene as well as the H1 haplotype has been suggested. In light of this we assessed the frequency of tau gene haplotypes in 113 cases of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and 168 control samples. We found a positive association between the H1 haplotype and frontotemporal dementia, but not with any of the other disease groupings (P = 0.029, odds ratio 1.81). We did not observe any affect on age at onset and tau haplotype or apolipoprotein E alleles, nor were any deviation from control frequencies of apolipoprotein E alleles observed. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the tau gene, or nearby gene on the H1 haplotype, is a risk factor for frontotemporal dementia.     

Cdk5 as a drug target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (cdk5) is suggested to play a role in tau phosphorylation and contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). One of its activators, p25, is dramatically increased in AD brains where p25 and cdk5 are colocalized with neurofibrillary tangles. Several animal models have shown a correlation of p25/cdk5 activities with tau phosphorylation. Overexpression of p25/cdk5 in nueronal cultures not only leads to tau phosphorylation but also cytoskeletal abnormalities and neurodegeneration. Therefore, cdk5 kinase inhibitors are potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of AD. Availability of potent, selective, brain permeable cdk5 inhibitors and relevant animal models in which their efficacy can be treated will be critical in the development of these inhibitors.     

Organotypic slice cultures from transgenic mice as disease model systems

Organotypic slice cultures have been prepared from the brains of transgenic mice with Alzheimer’s disease-type pathology. Cell types within the slice undergo differentiation and slices can be maintained in culture for up to 6 mo when prepared from young neonates. Slices have been prepared from mice overexpressing genes of relevance to Alzheimer’s disease, including mutant or wild-type tau. Neurons in these slices develop neurons that are immunoreactive for a number of markers of abnormal tau. Organotypic slice models are currently being used to test the impact of tangle enhancers or inhibitors as a prescreen for efficacy before testing drugs in vivo.